R. Kelly is reportedly planning to take legal action against the creators of a new docu-series that documented widespread allegations of sexual abuse against him.
The R’n’B icon was the subject of Showtime’s Surviving R.Kelly, which saw women coming forward to document claims of abuse against him across three consecutive episodes.
However, TMZ now reports that Kelly is “disgusted” by the series – which alleges that he has had sex with underage girls, as well as detailing previous claims that he ran a sex cult.
“The sources say R. Kelly is resolute – as one source put it, ‘He’s going to sue everybody who had anything to do with this’,” wrote TMZ.
TMZ also reports that sources close to Kelly say that he plans to launch a website that will discredit his sexual assault accusers, called SurvivingLies.com. He also plans to reveal his accusers’ true motivations via the site.
Earlier today (January 7), TMZ discovered that a Facebook page dedicated to R. Kelly’s cause was in the works. It has since been removed by Facebook.
“The page violated our Community Standards and has been removed,” a spokesperson for Facebook told TMZ. “We do not tolerate bullying or sharing other’s private contact information and take action on content that violates our policies as soon as we’re aware.”
Kelly has claimed that Surviving R. Kelly is a “vendetta” against him and he has has denied knowing half of the women featured in the series, after being provided with information by his team. He says that “the other half hate him for various personal and professional reasons.”
Last week, it transpired that the show featured former back-up dancer Jovante Cunningham, who alleged that she saw Kelly having sex with the late Aaliyah when she just was 15. In response, Aaliyah’s mother Dianne Houghton claimed that Cunningham is a “liar” and denied ever knowing her.
Yesterday, Chance The Rapper also apologised for working with Kelly in 2015.
“[T]he truth is any of us who ever ignored the R Kelly stories, or ever believed he was being setup/attacked by the system (as black men often are) were doing so at the detriment of black women and girls,” he wrote. “I apologize to all of his survivors for working with him and for taking this long to speak out.” wrote Chance on Twitter.